A French arms company pursued the goodwill of a man codenamed
"the tailor", believing that his political connectivity was essential
for a successful arms-deal bid.

This was the evidence before the Durban High Court yesterday as
forensic auditor Johan van der Walt started his third day of evidence in the
corruption and fraud trial of businessman Schabir Shaik.

Shaik has pleaded not guilty.

Van der Walt said auditors believed "the tailor" was
either the person who compiled a short-list of preferred bidders in the
multi-billion-rand arms deal, or Yusuf Surtee, a real tailor and close friend of
Nelson Mandela's.

Advocate Billy Downer SC, for the state, said it did not matter
who "the tailor" was - they just wanted to prove how Thomson conducted
its business.

The state alleges that Thomson, as Van der Walt's report made it
clear, were firm believers in the backdoor-bidding process - where who one knew
was more important than what one tendered.

A previous witness, Marion Marais, former secretary for
Thomson-CSF director Alain Thetard, said her boss's codename for Surtee was
"the tailor". Reference to "the tailor" first surfaced in a
September 1997 fax from Thetard's predecessor Pierre Moynot.

"Youssuf Surtee (sic) does in fact appear to be closer to
Mandela than my first fax could suggest. It was through him that Bouygues
obtained the motorway," Moynot wrote.

(A South African subsidiary of Bouygues built the N4 toll road
linking Johannesburg and Maputo.)

In November 1997, Moynot expressed concern that "the
tailor" might be speaking to others as well.

Later that year, Moynot wrote: "My feeling is that our
friend is certainly reliable and I believe that if we wish, if not to sell
corvettes, then at least to secure the combat system and the sensors, a visit by
(Jean Pierre Perrier, a director of Thomson-CSF) to the deputy president (then
Thabo Mbeki) should be arranged as soon as possible and should be used as an
opportunity for him to meet with Jacob Zuma."

At the time, Zuma was regarded as "a rising man".

The court also heard that Moynot made a note that the "Zuma
problem" was to be solved.

In March 1998 Moynot organised a visit by the chairperson of
Thomson-CSF International, identified in court only as "Chairman
Ranque", and wrote: "The tailor told me that N Mandela would be there,
of course, and perhaps one or two ministers. I am trying to convince him to get
the Minister of Defence also."

"At the moment he does not seem to think that Thabo will be
there. I shall therefore see if we could meet him. The problem is that priority
goes to Mandela and that as long as Youssuf cannot confirm the place and the
time, it is a bit difficult to organise an appointment with Thabo."

Van der Walt said he had concluded that the Thomson-CSF group
regarded political connectivity as important for success in the adjudication of
the arms deal, and that this view was shared by Shaik.

However, in July 1998, Shaik's brother Chippy, chief of arms
acquisitions in the Department of Defence, warned Thomson-CSF against the
"tailor", saying he had no "political and/or historical
legitimacy" and his only connection "to N Mandela was insufficient to
relay their action here".

"He suggests to us to think about (what) would happen in
one year (after the elections) and asks us to imagine the weakness of our
support," Thetard wrote.

Van der Walt said Mandela and Mbeki were mentioned in the
documents he had read but their involvement was limited to attempts to resolve a
black economic empowerment dispute involving Thomson-CSF.

He also said documents proved that there were a number of
meetings between Chippy Shaik and Thomson-CSF before the list of preferred
bidders for the arms deal was finalised.

To position itself strategically to enable its bid for the
corvette part of the arms deal, Thomson - through its international company -
first directly invested in African Defence Systems (ADS), without involving its
South African subsidiary, in which Shaik's company Nkobi held shares.

This caused Schabir Shaik to be very upset. Around this time,
Moynot noted that Shaik "definitely seems to have the sulks".

Van der Walt explained that after Zuma's intervention, and
through a complex, intricate process, the "technically bankrupt" Nkobi
Holdings acquired a 20% indirect shareholding in ADS. In this way they could
share in the R1,3-billion contract deal awarded to ADS on the same day.

At the same time, Zuma's payments from Shaik and Nkobi escalated
to R432 456, he said.